Ales Bialiatski, Nobel peace prize nominee,
vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights and
president of the Belarusian human rights centre “Viasna” was arrested
nearly a year ago on the 4th of August 2011 and sentenced to four and a
half years imprisonment.

To put an end to his unswerving devotion to promote
and protect human rights in Belarus, the Lukashenko regime fabricated
charges of tax evasion in November 2011 swiftly followed by a blatantly
politically-motivated trial which put this well known human rights
defender behind bars.

Once the initial shocked reactions and public declarations from the EU have fizzled out, what happens behind bars?

In recent weeks, the penitential administration has
drastically reduced his food parcels and his already scarce visiting
rights, has punished fellow prisoners for talking to him, and has piled
on disciplinary sanctions and extra duties, which prevents him from
being amnestied or released.

Ales Bialiatski is not the first victim of
penitential harassment orchestrated from the top to psychologically
break political prisoners, as was the case for former presidential
candidate Andrei Sannikov.

When Lukashenko attended the final match of the
Euro 2012, Ales Bialiatski should have been far from his mind. The
truth, however, is different and this human rights defender remains a
thorn in the Lukashenko regime, an itch that refuses to go away.

Indeed, despite continuous and worryingly
increasing measures of coercion used to make Ales publicly recognise his
guilt, he stands firm. But behind bars in Belarus, this firmness must
find an echo within the EU.

How does the EU deal with these overblown dictators?

While the Union is to be praised for sponsoring the
United Nations Human Rights Council resolution of 5 July establishing a
UN Special Rapporteur for Belarus, more can be done. Fourteen political
prisoners remain in prison and sporadic liberations, like the one of
Sannikov and Bandarenko in April, only serve the regime as a ploy to buy
time, avoiding new EU sanctions.

Since then, the situation has worsened for
political prisoners and the Polish journalist Poczobut, although freed,
still faces a possible accumulated seven-year prison sentence. The
amnesty law signed by Lukashenko on the 10 July deliberately contains
criteria which exclude political prisoners.

While the Belarusian regime wants to convince the
EU that it should release pressure and engage in unconditional dialogue,
the EU must on the contrary stand firm on the necessary unconditional
release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners as a precondition
for engagement.

Member states waited until last spring to adopt
serious targeted sanctions directed at persons and entities providing
financial support to the oppressive Lukashenko regime.

Adopting a coherent approach combining targeted
sanctions against these 'bagmen' and engaging the responsibility of EU
companies investing in the economic interests they control is necessary
to prevent this regime from surviving at the expense of the Belarusian
people.

At the Fourth Eastern Partnership foreign
ministers' meeting (23-24 July) in Brussels, the EU must take a firm and
uncompromising stance towards the last dictator in Europe. This would
be a concrete expression of the political commitment taken by the 27
member states through the adoption last June of the EU strategic
framework for human rights and democracy.

The EU should also keep on meeting opposition
leaders and supporting independent civil society, at a time when the
regime systematically prevents them from exiting what increasingly
resembles a giant prison, threatening the EU’s attempts to establish a
'dialogue on modernisation' with Belarus. As Belarus still refuses to
negotiate visa facilitation, the EU must offer alternative solutions to
allow a breathing space for the Belarusian people.

Has Ales Bialiatski found an echo? Is his silence
so loud it resonates in Lukashenka’s mind? Time will tell. The
International Federation for Human Rights will continue to closely
monitor the outcome of all EU relations with Belarus.

To our friend Ales and all human rights defenders and political prisoners behind bars, your voices are not unheard.